


sea castle

by discountghost



Series: sea castle [1]
Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Gore, In Public, M/M, Mild Smut, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Siren!Donghun, Sirens, Sirens eating people, Sloppy Makeouts, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discountghost/pseuds/discountghost
Summary: Just because you run does not mean you are free
Relationships: Kim Byeongkwan/Lee Donghun
Series: sea castle [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775098
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44
Collections: to be a hero fest - a.c.e fic fest round 1





	sea castle

This wasn’t a seaside vacation.

He had to remind himself of that as he crossed the sands, brows furrowed. If anything, this was a seaside escape. Or part of it. He kicked at the sand, watching the wet clumps fly into the air and get blown by the breeze coming off the water. Cherry red hair whipped with the wind and he pressed his lips into a thin line. He glanced back to the camper van that held the others, contemplated just running. The point of this was long gone. 

Byeongkwan paused, listened. Strained his ears to listen to what the others might be saying. Junhee had already made it clear earlier that he was on thin ice. That they could easily leave him behind if he became more of a burden than a help. And he knew these were not just empty words meant to frighten him into being a contributing member of their tiny traveling caravan. No; there was little doubt that Junhee would leave him behind if he felt the other hindered their progress.

He squinted, making out their blurry shapes as they moved to change the tires. Sehyoon glanced back in his direction, waved and then continued with whatever task he had been given. The remainder of his life burned a hole in his pocket as he kicked at the sand once more and walked on. Byeongkwan’s jaw clenched as a chill seeped into him. The dropping temperatures would only get worse, and he knew it. He could not afford to be left behind, especially with the seasons changing.

But he wondered if they’d keep him on if they knew what he did.

He blinked, vision blurred by tears forced out by the wind and his own emotions — he didn’t know which was a stronger contributor. His nails bit into the palms of his hands as he walked on with fisted hands. The pain drew him from his thoughts and forced him to look back to see how far he’d walked away. The camper was almost a speck in the distance, the sound of the waves and the sea birds taking over all else.

All except a soft, sad sound.

Not unlike the smoothness of water, but choppy with something like emotion. A voice. He stopped, listened. It could have been one of the others. Yuchan’s voice was not dissimilar, though the timber was wrong. Slightly deeper. His legs moved before he thought about it. Carried him forward with a purpose he hadn’t had in a long time. Not since he’d started running. When had he started running?

He took off, the world a blur around him as he ran. Kept running until the voice was louder, clearer — as clear as it would get. It was muffled, choked. Weak. Sand had turned to rock and dirt, Beyongkwan picking his way through to a small cliffside cavern. The song continued, louder. He could make out words now, though he couldn’t  _ really _ understand what they meant. It was like two songs overlapping, with one louder than the other but the second just as enticing. But it sounded angry, wronged.

His heart stuttered in his chest and he stopped. Tucked just at the corner was the source of the song. From where he stood, it was nothing more than a lump of flesh, molted and bloated from the sea water. A sad corpse, decaying as it lay over the rocks, connected — just barely — to a graying tail. The scales on it were gone, mostly. Flaking off into the murky water that sloshed between the rocks. Byeongkwan had to stifle the bile rising up in his throat, slipped on a rock in the process. He landed flat on his ass, pain tingling through him. But his falling caused the song to stop, silence heavy in the air. The distinct sound of something pulling itself drew his attention. Long minutes passed as he watched the body drag itself forward. Seaweed and a wet sack covered the head, rope around the neck.  _ Oh. _ Someone had tried to kill it.

They had not tried hard enough. 

The corpse drew closer and closer and he prayed that maybe this was a nightmare. That he would wake up and be back in the van, crammed into it with the others. They’d tell him that he must have been having one helluva dream because of how much he was kicking around. He swallowed; he could taste his fear on his tongue. The stench of decay and festering wounds hit him hard and he couldn’t stop himself this time. The nothing in his stomach made its way back up and onto the rocks and his shirt. The moving corpse paused, tilted the sack covered head and — laughed.

Byeongkwan  _ thought _ it had laughed. It sounded like a dog’s bark, but held the cadence of a song. Hands, clawed, ripped through the sack with ease to reveal a face marred by scars and yet undeniably beautiful. Its jaw hung loose, as if dislocated; its tongue flapped sickeningly before the creature twisted its jaw back into place properly. It lurched forward, the tail dragged along behind it. Blood, dark as the water, spilled forward and it paused. Stuck. The gap between the two was just enough that it couldn’t quite reach, just brush clawed fingers along the bottoms of his shoes.

_ “What the fuck—” _

His head whipped around, and the creature took it as an opening. Rocks pressed into his back with the full weight of the thing over him. The breath in his lungs was gone as fingers dug into his skin like a warm knife through butter. Junhee screamed something at him, lost in his wallowing in pain. A rock missed his head, and the creature it was undoubtedly aimed at. He felt himself be moved and more screaming, shouting. His name. Maybe? 

One moment he was above water, the next he was not. His head smacked against solid flesh. The tail. He squeezed his eyes and mouth shut; another barking laugh. More screaming. His brain checked out somewhere around the time when they’d pulled him from the water, soaked through. His hair clung to his face, red as the blood seeping into his clothes. He was aware of panic — of hands moving him this way and that. There was more laughter. Mirthless and haunting. Then it cut, stifled by the rope squeezing around the thing’s throat. Wild eyes flitted between the group before rolling back into its skull, the creature slumping.

He didn’t realize he’d stopped breathing until the pressure built up.  He hadn't even realized that he had woken up. He'd been floating in a space between sleep and wake, fretfully replaying the events that had just happened. Byeongkwan let his eyes open to the dull light filtering in. The van was moving. A blanket had been thrown over him at some point. But that wasn't anything unusual. He suspected that it might have been Sehyoon.

He was distracted by movement to the side of him. Froze when he saw a familiar flipper. The lower half that he could see made his stomach flip. They fucking brought it in the van.

"The hell is this?" He rushed forward, hands on the back of the seat in a death grip. "You brought that thing with us?"

"We could sell it or something." Junhee didn't look at him, focused on the road. It was empty, as if had been for much of their journey. "We'll need the money."

"It tried to kill me! And we don't even know what it is."

Sehyoon turned to look at him, repositioning a sleeping Yuchan to his lap. "It's dead."

Something in him said that they couldn't be sure of that. He glanced back to the creature. An old coat had been draped over its upper half; did they really kill it? It reminded me of those scenes in dramas where they wanted there to be a dead body, but didn't want to show it. But could they even be certain that it was dead? Byeongkwan had thought that it was dead when he'd first laid eyes on it. How wrong he'd been. He turned his attention back to the others.

"We have to get rid of it."

"Just relax. Go back to sleep. We have a long drive 'til we can find a rest stop."

Byeongkwan sighed, deep. He turned his head to look back at the creature. It was still on the van floor and he...he might have felt some comfort in that. But he didn't think he could go back to sleep in the same space as it.

They carried on, hours of nothing passing them by. A gas station pulled up on the road, about as empty as they had expected. Junhee pulled into it, Byeongkwan suddenly buzzing with energy. Or maybe not suddenly. He'd been looking for an excuse to get out of the same space as the creature for hours. Had claimed he needed to take a piss, but they wouldn't stop. He slid the door open and burst out as if he were being released from a cage.

He staggered to the bathroom, stomach churning. Byeongkwan felt like he was trying to vibrate out of his own skin, alarms ringing in his head. The saltwater still lingered on his tongue. When he breathed in, there was a residual pain of having nearly been drowned. He shut his eyes, leaned against the dingy porcelain sink.

There was a knock on the door. "You alright in there?" Sehyoon's voice drifted in through the door.

"I'm fine." His voice was hoarse, raspy. Was it worse than before? He turned the faucet on, as if to signal he was washing his hands to come out. He let it run for a moment, staring at the water as it flowed down. Shut his eyes to just listen to it. But when he did, all he saw was the creature lunging at him. Her jerked back, eyes flying open as he scrambled to turn the water off and get a hold of his emotions. There was no way he'd be going on like this. "I'm fine."

When he opened the door, there was no one outside. He'd figured as much. As kind as Sehyoon was to him, he was still not  _ with them _ . He was simply someone they would have to deal with until they reached the destination that he wanted to get to. He glanced down at his scuffed sneakers, considered getting something to eat with the few dollars he had left in his pocket. It was like they were trying to burn a hole in his ratty jeans. He sucked in a breath, headed down the aisle full of chips.

He'd only just picked something out from the marked shelves when he heard it. Clear as day. The same bitter song that had pushed him forward. His pulse thrummed in his ears as he glanced around. They'd said it was dead.

He'd known they were wrong.

He tried — really, he did — to resist the urge to move toward the sound. He glanced around the little convenience store, licked his lips. He felt it pull at him, deep in his bones. But he couldn't resist it. He dropped the chips, no longer hungry. His feet dragged as he went. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the space behind the register empty. His insides knotted up as he pushed open the door. The van was there, in sight.

It shuddered. It was something he noted in the back of his mind. The van shuddered as if it were on the verge of rocking back and forth. He'd seen it do so before, when Sehyoon had disappeared into it with Junhee. He wondered, dumbly, if that was what was going on in there. The part of him that knew better hoped it was. But the part that was still caught in the melody trudged on. His hand went to the door, pulling it open as the van began to tip to one side.

He was greeted to the sight of gore. A leg was strewn to the side. Bone peaked out from where it had been ripped from the joint. Blood splattered up the side of the interior, coating it in thick bursts. Claw marks had slid into the floor, blood pooling into them. The same crimson flowed out of the door, dripped to the ground in front of his sneakers. The dirt soaked it up eagerly.

His mind processed what was happening slowly. The state that the creature had been in would have made movement  _ hard. _ But it held itself over the shuddering corpse of the cashier with ease. Propped up on one side with its elbow. Languid laps of its tongue dragged across a mangled throat. He couldn't see it well. His own shadow obscured the sunlight that filtered in. The overhead lights in the front seat had blown out ages ago. He swallowed, no longer compelled to move forward.

It had to know that he was there. It had to. His heartbeat replaced its song in his ears. His hand remained poised on the door. Somewhere, above the strange floatiness of his thoughts, he heard footsteps. Or maybe he heard the scream first. He was pulled back and away from the van, yanked away as the creature turned. Its eyes glowed. Red rings that loomed in the faint glimmer of light.

"I told you it wasn't dead." He wanted to laugh. He'd been right, but at what cost? A limb was tossed out of the van, knocking into his leg as it flew. The creature laughed. "I fucking  _ told you. _ "

"What the fuck is it?" Junhee had his sweatshirt balled in his hands, pulling him away from it but still trying to be menacing. "You found it, you asshole. You should know what it is."

"I don't. I don't." He held onto the words like a prayer, realization hitting him. An incredulous laugh bubbled out of his throat, eyes wide. "I don't fucking know what it is."

"And we brought it with us." Yuchan's voice was distant, lost in the scrape of shoe soles over gravel.

He was tugged back further, stumbled back with Junhee. They tangled a moment as Sehyoong pulled them back toward the convenience store. They shut the glass door, fumbled around until they found the lock. Their breath fogged up the glass as they looked on. The creature shoved the remnants of its meal out of the van, more laughter following as it met Byeongkwan's gaze.

It curled in on itself, the van door sliding closer to shut as the van rocked again. Little rocks were jostled. His blood ran cold as the creature  _ howled _ . Or, did something close to it. It was tinged with pain. He swallowed, breath stuttering as the creature shoved the door open. The other jerked round him. Someone just beside him shook, whole frame quivering as they watched the thing step out of the van.

A lower half that had once been distinctly legless sported just those. Legs. It wobbled a little. It was covered in blood, and naked. As if the foul bowels of whatever hell it belonged to had just birthed it into the world. It flexed its toes and fingers. It — he; a very obvious he — turned its gaze down to the newly sprouted limbs and rocked its shoulders. Twisted his head from one way to the next. Then it stepped forward.

The quartet flinched in unison, but couldn't bring themselves to move. Byeongkwan wanted for his limbs to move but they were stuck in place. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the man - monster? - that strolled towards them as easily as if he were merely coming in for a drink. The creature's gait was still compromised, slightly uncertain. Maybe they would have a chance if they needed to run.

All his thinking, his hoping that there would be an out, distracted him. Enough that when he blinked and the creature was grinning at him through the glass. It pressed bloody hands onto the door, dragged them down. It used one hand to point to him, movement slow and easy. The grin on its face widened.

"Oh, fuck."

Yuchan shoved at him. "It wants him." His voice cracked, panicked. "We should just give him to it."

"Channie, calm down, we can't just do that." He might thank Sehyoon after this.

But he couldn't in the moment. "Yes, we can." Junhee was close. The hair on the back of his neck rose. The thing, whatever it was, was still looking at him. Still with the same grin as he listened to them bicker.

But just as the creature didn't look away, neither did Byeongkwan. The red of the other's eyes were doubled in the glass. Teeth too sharp to be human — canines just a touch too large and the teeth next to them that he couldn't name were much the same. Just shorter. But he couldn't stop looking. Like a spell had been cast over him. The creature tilted its head to the side, lips pulling down for the first time. Into something like a pout, like it was dissatisfied with something.

He barely registered the glass hitting his face. Little minute sprinklings that hit his face. Screams; distant. Something scraped against his sides and it was starting to make sense. It was pulling him through the hole it had smashed into the door. He swallowed a scream, too occupied with bracing himself as he hits the ground. Pain flashed up his shoulder as it hit the pavement. The creature loomed over him, but didn't do much else. Stared at him for a short while.

He blinked. Its mouth worked, little sounds leaving it. Until the sounds changed to a croaking voice.

"You gotta try harder than that to kill me." A grin spread over its lips, serene. There wasn't any of the mocking that had been in its laugh. Just...a smile.

He pulled Byeongkwan to his feet, dusted him off before pulling him close. He smelled like rot and the sea, and very sharply of blood. A hand slid into his hair, caressing the strands gently. His brows furrowed as he pulled back to look at the creature.

"You're running from something." A chill hit him. Eyes bore into him from all sides. "I can help you with that."

He didn't get to respond. Pain exploded at the back of his head and then darkness.

He really, really didn't like being knocked out.

The ache spread from the back of his head to the front with little delay, even before he opened his eyes. But, he could feel the distinct feeling of something supporting his head that  _ wasn't _ the ground. He cracked an eye open. Red eyes stared back. He froze, a yelp dying in his throat as fingers carded through his hair.

"What happened?"

The creature's smile was sad. "They left you."

He guessed as much. That, or the creature had killed them all. He hoped he wasn't being lied to. It left a bitter taste in his mouth to think about it. Blinking, he sat up slowly. Not much had changed in his surroundings. He had been dragged back inside. The van wasn't in the parking lot anymore. He groaned, shut his eyes again. He was tempted to lay down again, but he suspected the other had had him in his lap. And he couldn't be there again, even if it had been soft.

Byeongkwan braced himself on his hands, pushed himself up. He shouldn't have been surprised to see that what the creature had said was true. That he'd been abandoned. No; abandoned would have implied that they had some sort of attachment to him. After all, they just traveled together. They'd picked him up out of the goodness of their hearts, and he was merely a passenger that could only go with them as far as they would allow him.

But it still hurt, a little. He had been some semblance of close to them. They were the only support he had left. Now, it was whatever was left in his back pocket. He looked up. And a creature that ate people.

"What...are you?"

The other blinked, lips twitching. He huffed. "I'm a siren."

"A siren."

"Yes."

Byeongkwan squinted. "And what do you want with him?"

The siren, as it had said it was, leaned in. It observed him a moment, seemed to drink in the way Byeongkwan locked up. It sniffed, form suddenly too big. "I want to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"You don't?"

"I don't."

"Then what kind of help  _ do  _ you need?"

He could humor it. Maybe it would grow bored and move on. "I need a job. A new identity. I need — I need to get as far away from here as possible."

"I can find clothes and we can go."

"You know what clothes are?" A horrifying realization came to him: the siren was still naked. Still sporting just his birthday suit and he'd been resting his head on the other's lap. Heat rose to his cheeks as he scrambled back, put space between them.

The creature gave another barking laugh. "Don't sound so surprised. I look human, don't I? That would mean I was human before."

"Yeah, but then why the fuck did you look like you were part fish?"

"Sealion."

"What?" Byeongkwan's brows furrowed.

"Part sea lion. Not fish."

Byeongkwan could not believe he'd just been corrected by a monster that, until however long ago, he did not know could do more than laugh at him menacingly. He watched the other, eyes narrowed. Had he been capable of talking from the moment they met? It was a scary thought, thinking that the siren had been toying with him for the entirety of the time it'd been around him. That the laughter hadn't been its singular form of communicating. He swallowed, pushed away slightly from the siren.

"You said. You said you needed clothes." Byeongkwan licked his lips. "How do you suppose we go about doing that?"

"Well, we could have taken the clothes from the clerk, but your friends made sure to...handle him."

He didn't like the sound of that at all. "Okay, then — any alternatives?" The crunch of gravel had him turning his head. A car pulled up to one of the pumps, music drifting towards them from the speakers.

Byeongkwan would very loudly state that he didn't like all the manhandling that was happening. He certainly didn't like that the other had him so close to his crotch. He had to brace himself on the siren's thighs, jostled backward as they hobbled behind the shelves. Jaw clenched, he glanced up at the siren. He was a tense coil of muscle, like a toy that had been wound up and ready to spring forward. He radiated heat as he was half-curled around Byeongkwan. An almost defensive stance.

Voice filtered in. "Bro...what the fuck happened here?"

"Dunno man, maybe we should go?" Byeongkwan wanted to yell that they should leave.

"I gotta take a piss real bad, though."

"Fine, but if some machete-wielding psycho comes out, I'm  _ out. _ "

"Fuckin' wuss."

It quieted down as the pair separated. Footsteps crunched over broken glass, a groan sounding. The person paused, as if they could sense how wrong the situation was. But it was a short moment as they carried on. Sweat beaded at his forehead, heart racing. He could be saved, potentially, and he wasn't doing anything about it.

The siren hummed behind him. "I think we might have found our alternative."

"We can't just  _ kill them _ ." He tried not to think about the way he shuddered at the voice so close to his ear. "And we're not taking their clothes."

"If it makes you feel better, you won't have to do anything."

"No!" He slapped a hand over his mouth but it was too late.

Boots clomped into the convenience store as the water from the bathroom shut off. The man that had come in didn't look their way, at first. His gaze drifted to the bathroom. "Bro, you okay?"

"Yeah, did you hear that?"

"We gotta go. Like, now."

Maybe they would have made it. Byeongkwan liked to think that was a possibility. But he should have known once he heard the other inhale that their chance of escape was null. It sounded like it pained the siren, breathing in. Then the first note, melancholy drifted out of him and the human curled around himself. Plugged his fingers in his ears. He didn't want to hear. He didn't want to see. But it didn't mean that he couldn't  _ feel _ it all.

The vibrations of the chaos went from the tiles on the floor to him. Rolled up his bones and knocked around his frame. He wanted to cry. A sob broke loose and he realized that he was, in fact, crying. The tears wet the knees of his jeans as he rocked back, looked up.

The aisle was mostly bloodless. Mostly. The siren's mouth was covered in red, lips dripping it as they parted slightly around an inhale. Teeth flashed and he felt his own blood run cold. One of the unfortunate victims had their twisted all the way around. The other had not been so lucky. Their limbs had been twisted at an unnatural angle, throat ripped out by sharp teeth. Claw marks dug into their side. Had they put up a fight when the singing stopped?

The siren was soon in his space, smearing blood over its stomach before attempting to reach out to him. He flinched back, let out the most feeble wail he'd ever heard come from himself. The creature drew back, fist clenched.

"It's over now." It's voice was soothing. "You can go wait in the car while I clean up."

"We're...taking their car, too?"

The siren smiled. "How else did you want to get out of here? Walk?"

That might have been better. It might have saved him from the way his heart threatened to jump out of his throat with the creature close. It might have been better than the deep suspicion that if given the chance, he'd be just another body. He swallowed, fingers pressing down into the floor to try to ground himself.

"Fine — fine. We'll. We'll take the car." He nodded, as if that would be enough to convince himself that he wasn't being an idiot. Like he wasn't putting himself in danger. But, there was no reward without risk, right?

"Good boy." The siren pat him on the head, stood up and walked past him.

He didn't wait for further instruction.

Byeongkwan might have been holding on to the steering wheel too tightly. The siren sat on the passenger side, head turned away from him. He couldn't tell if he were sleeping. All he knew is that the siren had been quiet since they'd started driving. He, himself, didn't exactly know where he was going.

He hadn't known since he'd taken off in the middle of the night.

He licked his lips, blinked back what felt like tears. It — he tried, even now, to tell himself that it hadn't been his fault. That the other had pushed too hard. That he'd already been on the edge and that was what had done it. He knew, of course, that the man had survived, but that had to be what scared him more than anything. The possibility that he could come back.

Byeongkwan sucked in a breath, shaky as he repositioned his hands on the wheel. He was suddenly aware that his moment of thought had an audience. His gaze flickered over to the siren, found him staring.

"What?"

"You stink."

"I — what?" He gave his arm a tentative sniff. "I don't stink."

The siren shook his head. "Fear. I can smell it."

"Of course, you can."

"What are you running from, cherry boy?"

He flushed. "I don't think we're on close enough terms for you to be calling me that." His grip on the wheel tightened. "I don't even know if you have a name."

The siren laughed. Not the same barking laughter, but something melodic and sweet. He was going to be sick. "That makes it all the more exciting, doesn't it?"

"That just makes it worse."

"What? You don't want to be around a strapping young stranger like myself?"

"Do you even have a name?"

The siren's expression wilted. He turned his head again, looked out the window. His jaw clenched, from what Byeongkwan could see when he glanced the creature's way. It was quiet for a long while. "Donghun."

"What?" He'd almost forgotten what he'd asked with how slow the response came.

"My name. You know it now." He jerked out of reach of a jab at his side. "But now I don't know your name."

He glanced at the siren. "Byeongkwan."

"Byeongkwan." Donghun repeated it a few times, let it roll over his tongue. The human squirmed in his seat. It sounded like he was tasting the word and the idea of that meshed with the siren too well. "I like it."

"Gee, thanks?"

They fell back into silence, this time only slightly more comfortable. The siren tapped his fingers against the glass, lifted his head to watch something pass him by in the window. He remained like that for a few minutes before dropping his head back on the headrest.

"You never answered me."

"Huh?"

The siren turned to look at him, the leather of the car seat creaking under the movement. "About what you're running from."

"Still don't think we're close enough for you to ask me something like that."

"What would make us close enough for you to answer? I'm  _ dying _ to know."

Byeongkwan shrugged.

"Oh, come on. You saw me dying. That was me in a very vulnerable state."

"I — you tried to kill me!"

"Because I thought you were going to try to finish the job." Donghun shrugged. "Like I said: vulnerable. Now, tell me."

"I don't have to tell you."

Donghun sighed, loud and dramatic as he threw his hands up in the small space of the car. "This is supposed to be us bonding. Will you cooperate or should I just eat you?"

" _ Fuck. _ " The car jerked to the side as he felt the blood drain from his face. He glanced over at the siren, who merely grinned at him. "Fuck you! That's not funny!"

"Well, are you going to share with the class or not?"

"Fucking fine: I broke up with my boyfriend."

"It had to be a very messy breakup if you're on the run from him."

His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. His jaw ached. "He was...an asshole."

The silence was heavy this time. He felt like the air itself was trying to strangle him, and he could remember all too well the feel of hands on his neck. Wrapped around his slim throat tight. He sucked in a lungful of air, but that didn't feel like it was enough. Before he could think otherwise, he was turning the car to the side of the road. A car he hadn't realized was behind them blared their horn as they passed. He pressed his head against the steering wheel, staring down at the pedals.

The siren was quiet beside him. Too quiet. It only made it that much harder to breathe. He flinched at the touch of a hand on his back, the other shushing him softly. He rubbed a soft circle into Byeongkwan's back as he tried to get his breathing right. He squeezed his eyes shut. He was not being comforted by a siren.

"Thank you for telling me." Byeongkwan would swear he felt a weight lift from his shoulders at the sound of the other's voice. That he'd felt floaty, everything relaxing.

He waited a moment longer, until he was taking shaky breaths. Tears dotted the corner of his eyes. The second time he'd cried in front of the creature. But this time it wasn't for fear of death at his hands. His laugh was watery as he realized this. That he was more terrified of the man he'd left behind than the monster he'd found.

He didn't speak as he got the car back on the road.

Donghun was something of a little shit, but he made for good company. The silences were easy to bear now, and as they started driving through more populated areas, he would perk up. Excitedly ask about what something was, what it did. He seemed most impressed with the electronic billboards. His eyes widened, lips parted as he soaked in the imagery on the side of the buildings. He reminded Byeongkwan of an excitable puppy, straining against the seatbelt.

As they got closer to the city limits, it truly dawned on him that he didn't know what he was doing. He was out of his depth. The buildings loomed tall, the people many. The streets were clogged with crowds as they went about their daily lives. He swallowed, wiped a sweaty palm against his jeans.

"So, where do we stop?" Donghun cocked his head to the side, tried to peer down the street. "Do they have an inn or something we can rest at?"

"A hotel? I don't think I can afford that."

Donghun barked. "You have me; you can afford anything."

"I don't think my morals would allow that."

"They would allow me to kill two people in front of you, but not charm someone into giving us a free room?"

He...had a point. "Fine."

They drove around aimlessly until the gas meter flashed. Even if he had enough money to fill it, he didn't think they ought to be driving around in someone's stolen car. He pulled over, into what he assumed was the parking lot of some sort of establishment. Part of him had been glad for the sleek car when they weren't in city limits. Now, people tried to peer in through the tinted windows. He ducked his head, even if he knew that they would be unable to see him. A few people hovered around, talked in little clusters. It would be just his luck if he pulled up to some club.

Donghun did not have the same apprehension that Byeongkwan did. He stepped out of the car with ease. He stretched, groaned. The clothes he'd lifted from the bodies of the men he'd killed had fit him well enough. A plain white shirt with a leather jacket thrown over it. The jeans hugged his legs so tightly, he thought the siren's thighs would force the seams apart. He looked much less...dressed for the occasion, drowning in a sweatshirt and sporting jeans with holes from how long he'd had it rather than any sort of fashion trend.

The siren wasted little time in crossing to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. He flinched, but fell in step as the creature grinned at him. Big teeth on display. They sauntered over to what looked like the line.

"What are we doing?" His turn to ask.

Donghun shrugged. "Living in the moment. It smells nice in there." His brows furrowed, a hand coming to rest on his stomach. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Maybe they'll have something nice to eat in there."

"It's a  _ club _ . I don't think they serve food there."

"That's a shame. That's like, missing out on more money. Maybe they'll have something else."

"You just want to go inside."

"Yes." Donghun grinned wider. A gaggle of girls giggled before turning to whisper to one another. A pair of guys even looked him up and down. "How'd you figure it out?"

"If you want to eat we can go somewhere else that actually serves food."

"No, no. Here is fine. This is as much for me as it is for you."

"The hell does that mean?" He didn't get an answer.

They'd come face to face with the bouncer, who peered down at them blankly. "ID."

Byeongkwan froze for a moment. Did he even have that with him? He'd stopped thinking about a lot of things when he ran. Donghun stepped in, still grinning.

His voice was smooth. The human felt his stomach clench and his thighs twitch. "You're just gonna let us in because who needs something like that?"

The bouncer blinked for a moment, then waved them in as if what the other had said had made perfect sense. He wanted to crawl away. The man's eyes had glazed over. He wasn't sure the bouncer was even seeing anyone that came after them.

He shuddered as Donghun leaned in close. "Now, why don't you relax and have some fun."

When he next blinked, he was on the dance floor. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, but everything ached. His limbs, his stomach, his mind. But he couldn't stop moving, compelled to keep going. Sweat soaked his clothes. Not his clothes. He didn't remember ever owning a shirt that opened up his wide. The buttons looked like they'd been popped open forcefully. He swayed to the beat of the song. His jeans were still his, his shoes the same he'd shoved his feet in the night he left.

He craned his head to the side, searched for the familiar face that had brought him here. Byeongkwan was stranded on a dancefloor, surrounded by bodies that swarmed him. Hands were loose at his hips. He and whoever was behind him pressed closer, bobbed to the beat. The song hit a particular beat that he could feel in his gut. Ghostly vocals drifted out into the crowd and he saw people through their heads back in reverence. The hands were soon gone from his hips.

A side step and he was flush against someone else. They danced as if possessed, incapable of finding the limit. But he turned and there, between all the writhing bodies, he found Donghun. The siren's lips parted around a note, body swaying to the beat as if he too were controlled by the rhythm. Byeongkwan pushed against the crowd, parted them where he could with his hands. It was like he was swimming, trying to get to the beacon that was Donghun before he drowned.

His hair clung to his forehead. The resting face that was near tears spotted him, Donghun's expression shifting to delight. He opened his arms to the human and Byeongkwan fell into them gladly. The spell of the siren wore off as fingers carded through his hair, cooing at him.

"Feel better?"

"I think I'm gonna throw up."

Another barked laugh. Someone might have looked at them with they weren't all stuck in a trance. The siren sipped at a beer he'd gotten; he probably had charmed the bartender into giving it to him for free. "You're building a tolerance."

"Is it supposed to feel this shitty?"

"No, but then, most people don't have a tolerance for siren songs."

"Why's that?" His voice was muffled against the creature's shoulder.

There was a moment of hesitation. "The people who can resist us have either avoided death by us, or something else, very narrowly. Or someone who might be on the verge of becoming one of us."

Byeongkwan blinked, looked up. "You saying I was going to become a siren?"

"Maybe. The water is a strange, fickle thing."

He felt his stomach roll. He pushed off the other, stumbled. The siren caught his wrist, pulled him down to a seat beside him. "It's a complicated process."

"Does it include dying?"

"Yes." He wondered when he'd first thought the other had nice lips. They curved around his sharp teeth so well. Was this a product of the song or was he thinking right?

He licked his lips, turned his attention to the glass on the counter next to him. "Did you get me a drink?" He reached for it. "How nice of you."

"I didn't. Someone else did." The siren glanced around before his gaze fell on someone. He jerked his head in their direction. "Him."

Part of him knew that this was probably a bad thing. A terrible coincidence. He should have known when his lips touched the glass and the fruit flavor of the drink washed over his dry tongue. It could have been a lucky guess on the part of a stranger, but this was more than a lucky guess. It was a drink he ordered too frequently in the presence of a specific person for it to go unnoticed. His stomach rolled, the effects of the siren's song loosening on his mind. His body was alight with panic, bile rising into his throat. He was on his feet in seconds.

He didn't look back as he tried to navigate the crowd to get as far away as Jaesung as possible.

The whole point of him taking off in the middle of the night was to avoid ever having to see the man again. They hadn't been a good fit. It had seemed sweet, at first, in that special cupcake-gumdrop-sugarbear-I-love-you stage. Thinking about it now only forced the bile further up his throat. He'd barely made it to the toilet.

His knees stung as they hit the floor, frame shuddering as he heaved up everything and more from his empty stomach. His throat burned as he rested his cheek on the toilet seat, a sob shaking him now.

This was not his first attempt. It was a cycle of destroying himself that came too often to a head. He had hoped that this would be the last time, the time that he actually got away. He'd switched up how he did things. Changed his hair. Changed his method of running. No planes, no trains. Not even a bus. He thought that maybe something would go right. He was mistaken.

Footsteps were lost to the heavy bass of whatever song was playing now. The stall opened up and he dreaded seeing who it was. He licked his lips, winced as he turned his head to stare up at the siren. Jaesung was like a dream turned to a nightmare. Like an illusion that had faded. Like Donghun's siren song. Sweet, until it devoured him whole. He shuddered, pushed himself to his feet. If the siren was here now, then the man he'd run from wouldn't be that much further away.

Donghun's grip on him was reassuring. Gentle. Like he was going to fall apart if the siren held onto him too hard.

"What do you want to do?" At his ear again. He was suddenly aware of how close together they were. He could feel the warmth of the other's breath against his skin.

He didn't know what he wanted to do. He didn't want to think about the inevitable result of this. "Kiss me."

"What?" The siren blinked. Amusement colored his tone.

"Kiss me. Please."

He was crowded back against the wall, pressed flush against the creature. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Don't wanna think about it too hard."

"I bite." Donghun smiled, let his lips curl back from his teeth. Byeongkwan swiped a thumb over the other's lips, nodded again.

"I'd like that."

They fit together easily. Probably a mix of alcohol and supernatural hypnotics. He stopped thinking about it. Instead, he focused on the way the other tasted. Like alcohol with the metallic bite of blood. An emotion that didn't belong to him bubbled in his chest. Something that  _ burned. _ Donghun tasted like salt, revelry, and death. His cock twitched. That shouldn't be a turn on. Not for anyone in his right mind.

Maybe he wasn't in his right mind.

Teeth nipped at his lips, tugged them apart further so the siren could slip his tongue in. He breathed into the other's mouth, eyes shut as he let the siren explore him. Hands went from his sides to explore as far down as they could reach without the two needing to separate. He whined as the siren pulled off, trailed wet open mouth kisses down to his throat.

"You know, I'd considered eating you."

His pulse hiccuped. "D-did you?"

The hummed response went straight to his dick, aching where it tented his jeans.

"And now?"

Red eyes flashed up at him. "I think I'd like to try an alternative method to that."

Lips pressed right where his pulse thudded at this neck, the beat singing in his veins. The siren smoothed his hands down to Byeongkwan's crotch, knee fitted just between his legs. Ghosted pressure where he wanted it most. He whined again, rocked down on the other's thigh. Donghun chuckled and he shut his eyes again to lose himself to the sensation further. He felt warm all over. A desperate meal left him as he chased pleasure — 

"You really are a little slut, aren't you?"

His eyes flew open. Ragged breathing was his only means of responding, Donghun unconcerned as he kissed his way back up Byeongkwan's neck. He tried pushing the other away, but his grip was strong. Held him against the wall as he made eye contact. Jaesung was saying something — something that probably would have hurt him if he were paying more attention.

"Stop." Donghun looked up at him. "Please stop, Donghun."

The siren nodded, let him go. He felt small, under the gaze of a supposed monster and that of a monster he knew well enough.

"Get over here." This was how it always played out. Byeongkwan would taste freedom for a few moments before he was right back in the cage. He swallowed, stepped around Donghun. But he didn't go any further. "Now."

He shook his head. "N-no."

"Kwannie. Let's not do this again." Sweet. He'd turned sour soon enough.

Byeongkwan shook his head again. "I'm not coming back."

"What do you mean you're not coming back?" Jaesung scoffed, placed his hands on his hips. "C'mon; don't embarrass yourself in front of your friend."

Donghun was eerily quiet. He hazarded a glance back and was met with something that made his stomach flip. Serenity. Like he was at peace with the situation. Of course, he would be. They didn't know each other that well. They didn't know each other at all. Donghun was a literal monster. He wouldn't care if Byeongkwan was gone.

"He said he didn't want to go, though?" Donghun tilted his head to the side, a faint smile on his lips. "You shouldn't force people to do things they don't want to do."

"Listen, asshole—”

"If I remember right." He was baring his teeth again, strutted toward Jaesung as if the other wasn't taller than him. "He told me you were the asshole."

He was challenging him. Byeongkwan didn't think he liked the idea of the outcome. Fear of the man held more to what he thought the siren was capable of, even with everything that he'd already seen. But he hadn't sung yet. Surely, he'd be at a disadvantage. The flick of Jaesung's pocket knife had him moving.

He didn't think much beyond the fear that moved him. He'd seen what the man did to people that had helped him in the past. Broken limbs, if they were lucky. His entire body shook as he removed the lid from the back of the toilet. The weight of it pulled him down, but didn't slow his momentum as his pulse sang.

Donghun stepped away as if he predicted it. Was just out of the way for Byeongkwan to swing and have the ceramic lid catch the man's jaw. Jaesung's head jerked to the side, body thrown to follow it. He stopped, stunned.

The moment went by too fast. The lid was shattering on the floor and his cheek stung as the larger man laid into him. The air knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground. The ache came back, like the fear rushing into his veins. The siren was still above them, watching like a predator watching prey. But he didn't intervene. Byeongkwan's ears rang as Jaesung started on one of his many threats of beating him to a pulp. He curled in on himself, tried to bring his hands up to his face to block some of the blows.

Blood filled his mouth after one punch. He coughed, spat it up. He wheezed out a breath, spread out on the ground. Jaesung's breathing was heavy over him. "You could have just made this easy."

He could have. He could have just gone back to him like he always did. It would have never been this bad. He swallowed, choked around blood and spit as he rolled onto his side. The lid hadn't completely shattered. A large chunk of it was still intact. He blinked at it a moment. Jaesung was saying something again. He didn't hear it. Just the thud of the lid meeting the side of the man's head. And the many more times after. He shoved Jaesung back, capitalized on his state of disorientation.  _ Thud. _ Another hit and he was holding his hand up to stop it.  _ Thud. _ It crashed down on the other's skull. A crack followed.

Jaesung lay on the ground in much the same state he had been in. His face was a mangled mess, a little worse than Byeongkwan's own. He brought the small shard of the lid left in his hands down. It sunk into flesh and brain matter, the crack in the other skull shoved out like it'd been a stress ball squeezed too hard. Some of it flew to his face. He flinched back, but didn't stop the same motion of up and down up and down up and down until he wasn't sure he was looking at a head anymore.

He breathed deep, heavy as Donghun approached. The siren was smiling again. Licked a fat stripe of spit and blood up his cheek as he tasted the sweat and brain on his cheek. He hummed, the vibrations going straight down Byeongkwan's spine. Every part of him tingled.

"You did so good." A kiss at the corner of his lips. Another lap of blood from his face. "Such a good job."

Fingers laced with his, pulled him up and out of the bathroom. They weaved through the crowd, picking up speed. Something burned in his chest. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he followed after the siren. The night air was cold against his frame as they rushed out the entrance.

People gawked. He didn't care. Donghun certainly didn't. Byeongkwan glanced down at their intertwined hands as they walked quick. Past the line, past the car. The siren glanced back at him, eyes bright. "You're free now."

He would have stopped short if the other wasn't pulling him along. He was free. Sorta. Now he was on the run with a siren for murdering his terrible and abusive ex-boyfriend. He laughed. A full-body laugh that echoed into the night.

The siren barked out his own laughter as they ran.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/discountghosts) / [cc](https://curiouscat.me/remeremerem)


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